


And I Tried to Say It(But My Tongue Got Tied)

by pinkevilbob



Series: Hit Me With Technology [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Cyborgs, F/M, Widojest Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25217563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkevilbob/pseuds/pinkevilbob
Summary: Caleb was useless and even worst a cyborg, but Jester doesn't seem to mind.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Series: Hit Me With Technology [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826977
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35
Collections: Widojest Week 2020





	And I Tried to Say It(But My Tongue Got Tied)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mightynein69](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mightynein69/gifts).



> It's the final day of Widojest Week sadly. The prompt today was "Uselessly" and it had me stumped at first and then I remembered mightynein69's cyborg Caleb AU and knew I had to return to it.
> 
> Title comes from "Can't See(Useless)" by Oingo.

Bren was useless. Ikithon made a point of making sure that Bren knew just how useless he was. Attempts were made to make Bren useful, but they were for nothing. He was a waste of effort.

Caleb was also useless, but Jester didn't seem to mind. His robotic arms were still rusted and jammed, and his legs were too weak to hold him up. She'd been working on him for weeks, but not much progress was made. It wasn't Jester's fault though, Caleb would never blame her. He was just useless.

Jester hummed as she fixed a small cleaning robot. She had a lot of responsibilities in the repair shop and had fallen behind taking care of him. Caleb wanted to tell her to not worry about him and to focus on her job, but while he could understand Common, he still couldn't speak it. 

"Okay, Caleb, here's the moment of truth," Jester said, flicking a switch on the cleaning robot. With a whir and a buzz, the robot came to life and began cleaning Jester's workstation. "Woo! Check it out Caleb!"

He watched as the robot tumbled off the workbench and as Jester fumbled to catch it. A small smile spread over his face, but he quickly lost it. Smiling was not a thing for Caleb.

"Do you know what this means?" Jester asked. She leaned forward clearly expecting an answer even though she wouldn't understand it.

"That you should not be running robots on the table?" Caleb said in Zemnian.

Jester tapped her nose. "Super close but nope!" She always acted like she knew what he was saying despite the language barrier. "That means I can work on your arm now, and, and the last part we needed for your right arm finally came in today!"

Caleb froze, but he wasn't able to move much anyways. He had been so used to being stuck where he was that he hadn't thought of what would happen when Jester fixed him.

"I know it's been taking forever, but soon your right arm will be done and I already got started on your left arm and it should go faster," Jester said. "And my boss, Percy, you've met him, says that he's got into contact with one of his connections and has ordered some bionic braces for your legs. We'll get you up and moving in no time."

And then they will realize the waste of time and money Caleb was and regret it all. They were all so kind to him, especially Jester. She worked such long hours on him, but her smile never faded even when Caleb's joints accidentally pinched her fingers. "Danke," he said softly. There was no way he could ever pay her back for all the things she'd done for him.

She gave him an even bigger smile. "Bitte! See, I told you that I've been studying zemnian. Who knows maybe I'll get so good at it I won't have to upload Common into your harddrive after all." Jester's smile faltered. The usb for Common had arrived weeks ago, but Jester and Percy decided that it would be risky to do such a large upload while Caleb's flesh half of him was so weak. Caleb didn't really understand their caution. Cyborgs weren't considered human or legal for that matter, so frying his brain was of little consequence. 

"I don't doubt it," Caleb said in Zemnian. "You're very talented."

"Right, we should probably stick with the upload." A frown creased Jester's face and all Caleb wanted to do was comfort her, but he couldn't. With a shake of her head, she sat down on the workbench next to Caleb and started working on his arm. "I bet you can't wait for us to finish fixing you up."

Caleb's stomach churned at the thought of it. Part of him wanted to stop being a burden, but when she finished fixing him, he'd have to leave and never see her again. Not seeing Jester everyday felt like a punishment. It was one that he deserved though.

"Hey Caleb?" Jester asked softly. He had never heard her be so quiet before. "When we're done with this, when you're all fixed up, will we still be friends? Will you want to stay here?"

He nodded without giving himself a chance to think. The thought of leaving her stung too much. Caleb stopped and stared at her. This was love. No, it was nothing more than a crush, but it didn't stop his heart from fluttering at her voice. "Ja," Caleb said. There was nothing he wanted more.

Jester grinned, tears welling in her eyes. "Thanks Caleb. I'm not ready to say goodbye." She clicked something into place and his arm moved. The tears in her eyes rolled down her face. "It works!"

Caleb lifted his hand up and wiped away her tears. It was jerky and imperfect, but Jester giggled anyways.

"You're already pretty good with your arms. I bet you're probably good with your mouth too."

He could feel his face overheating.

"I meant talking, Caleb," Jester said with a laugh. "I can't wait to hear what you have to say."

All he had to say was how wonderful Jester was and how he wished that he could make her happy. That was all he wanted. but Caleb knew nothing he could do would make her happy. He was useless.


End file.
